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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24974788">The Valiant Blacksmith</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheVoidLooksBack/pseuds/TheVoidLooksBack'>TheVoidLooksBack</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Salt Scented Memories [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Witch’s Servant and the Demon Lord’s Horns | Majo no Geboku to Maou no Tsuno, 魔女の下僕と魔王のツノ | Majo no Geboku to Maou no Tsuno | The Witch's Servant and the Demon Lord's Horns</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, For real they are sweet and fluffy and honestly the canon characters are so good, Gen, Humor, What do you get when you, mix a pure cinnamon roll and, mngtmnt, the rakish sugar baby knight?, twsatdlh, you dont need to retcon character development</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 01:02:01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,053</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24974788</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheVoidLooksBack/pseuds/TheVoidLooksBack</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>(Or <em>The Boy and His Friend, The Clown</em>)<br/>All Arsenio wants to do is get the shipment to Lord Raoul Reyes.<br/>But life has other plans.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Arsenio &amp; Sauro, Arsenio Gracia-Balderas &amp; Sauro</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Salt Scented Memories [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2062911</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Valiant Blacksmith</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>It is criminal how there is no fandom for The Witch’s Servant and the Demon Lord’s Horns | Majo no Geboku to Maou no Tsuno, so im making it myself. Have fun reading my fanon.<br/>And do make sure to check out the manga! It's absolutely beautiful.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Arsenio looked up when the door slammed open, his customary greeting dying half formed on his lips, as Sauro stumbled into the yard. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He sighed. T</span>
  <span>oday, there would be trouble. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He could tell that Sauro had come here from visiting the latest of his many ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>friends</span>
  </em>
  <span>’; his hair in disarray, shirt untucked, breeches loosely done up, the father or brother of </span>
  <em>
    <span>the friend</span>
  </em>
  <span> in question hot in pursuit. Even now, Arsenio could hear the angry bellowing above the market place chatter growing ever nearer. </span>
  <span>With a sigh, Arsenio gestured to the cart neatly stacked with the latest purchases of one Lord Knight Raoul Reyes. “If you hunker down, no one should be able to see you behind the crate”, he said, shaking out a tarp.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Arsenio, you beautiful man, what would I do without you?”, Sauro grinned before disappearing amongst the carefully packed items.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>From the direction of the market a man could clearly be heard planning Sauro’s inevitable fate.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Die, apparently”, Arsenio dryly remarked, tossing the tarp over the items, and effectively sealing Sauro from view.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ouch!” came the muffled reply, the tarp shaking as Sauro rubbed his head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Arsenio kicked the cart wheel as for the second time that day, the door burst open with a man panting in the doorway.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Boy, -huff- wh-where is, -whoo- your Master?” He wore insufferably bright silk clad clothes, an overly large hat on his head, and even with Arsenio’s lack of colour coordination, he could tell it was expensive if tasteless.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He’s not here at the moment, but I can help you if you wish to place an order.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The man began to pace, eyes casting about the yard, the smithy, with a critical, condescending eye. “From this dump? Unlikely.”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Dump?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Arsenio felt his eyebrow twitch. This man, clad in gaudy silk, with the most ostentatious feather flouncing about from his hat, wanted to call his family’s blacksmithery a </span>
  <em>
    <span>dump?</span>
  </em>
  <span> He broadened his smile, placid and calm. “Is there something else then?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The man poked at a barrel with his walking stick. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Have you seen a fiend come this way? He di-”, the man swallowed, his face twisted as if he had just swallowed a disgustingly bitter plum pit, “d-dishonored my sweet, pure fiancée, Jezebel.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Arsenio’s temple throbbed. A </span>
  <em>
    <span>fiancée? He was going to have words with Sauro.</span>
  </em>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“A fiend? I’m afraid not”, Arsenio replied, “you’re the first visitor we’ve had today.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The man looked down his nose at him, trying for what he presumably assumed was a noble bearing, but ultimately just looked like he was constipated. “Adultery is a sin, boy, and hiding adulterers makes you complicit to their sin.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Then it’s a good thing that there are no adulterers here”, Arsenio promised, his throbbing vein a full blown headache. </span>
  <em>
    <span>But there may soon be a murderer</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Say boy, what do you have under that tarp there.” He raised his walking stick to poke between the carts slats. Arsenio caught it firmly in his grip, holding it steady even as the gaudy man tried to yank it back.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Let go! Don’t you know to respect your betters, boy?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Arsenio’s smile minutely sharpened. “When I see them, I’ll be sure to do so.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The man gasped loud enough that Sauro’s snort went unnoticed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Or so Arsenio thought.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There’s someone under that tarp, and I demand you show me!” The man reached for the tarp.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The only thing under this tarp is Lord Reyes’ order. You do remember the punishment for interfering with a Lord’s order.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The man stilled, a hand pressed delicately against his throat as all the blood drained from his face. He slowly turned</span>
  <span> around, his feather bobbing not unlike his Adam’s apple. “Well then. I’ll be back later”, he glared at Arsenio, “With the guards. Don’t think I won’t find him!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good luck!” he called as the man strode away, the slamming door the only reply.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Arsenio waited a few moments before locking the door. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ugh, that man is such a pain in the arse.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Really?”, he frowned at the cart. “That man’s fiancee?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Did you have to wish him good luck?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Arsenio sighed as he pulled back the tarp.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes. I did”, Arsenio watched as Sauro jumped out of the cart, long graceful limbs neatly unfolding like a cat. “She was his fiancee!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well how was I to know she was engaged?” Sauro griped, straightening his clothes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ask??”, Arsenio rubbed at his face before replacing the tarp. “I swear, you’re gonna die in the marketplace because of your pretty boy womanizing ways before you have the chance to be killed on a battlefield.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sauro batted his eyes at Arsenio. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You think I’m pretty?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Like moldy cheese. And you smell as delightful”, he deadpanned. </span>
  <em>
    <span>How was he friends with this clown?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Sauro laughed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh Arsenio! I never knew you cared so much- how could I die when that would mean you’d miss me oh so terribly?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>With a fond sigh, Arsenio shoved Sauro onto a stool. With deft fingers, he pulled the hair tie loose, gently carding through the strands. He lightly tugged as his fingers got ensnared in his hair.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sauro hummed, relaxed as if a man hadn’t just vowed to publicly execute him. “But what a way to go- dying for love!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Arsenio laughed. Sauro dying for love? Dramatic though he was, Arsenio found it easier to imagine the Pope bestowing a dragon with a sainthood than his rake of a friend being so devoted to someone. If there was one thing he knew about his best friend, it was that he </span>
  <em>
    <span>fell in love</span>
  </em>
  <span> as easily as most choose dessert, and often left a cloud of </span>
  <em>
    <span>friends</span>
  </em>
  <span> and the besotted in his wake.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>”Just get out of here before the fiancee really comes back with the guards”, he said, securing Sauro’s hairtie, “or you’ll be </span>
  <em>
    <span>dying for love</span>
  </em>
  <span> a lot sooner than you’d think.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sauro chuckled, pulling Arsenio into a quick hug that smelt of a delicate woman -Jezebel's- perfume and Sauro’s own blend of windswept and bergamot. “I owe you one!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You owe me lots!”, Arsenio smiled. “Just make sure you keep it in your pants- I’m running out of hiding places.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sauro laughed, perched on the top of the yard wall. “I give no promises.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>With a cheeky wink, he jumped down and disappeared.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I hope I did the characters justice.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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